The IBJJF Orange County Winter Open 2025 took place across February 1st and 2nd, 2025 and it was Art Of Jiu-Jitsu who made the biggest impact by racking up the most points in both the gi and no gi divisions. They had a ton of success in the colored belt divisions and Marcos Froede won the black belt light-featherweight division, while Cole Abate shared the lightweight final with his teammate Guilherme Fernandes. There were other champions from AOJ and several other teams, but no men’s double champion in the gi. That’s because Paulo Merlin won the absolute division but had to settle for a silver medal at heavyweight behind the champion Nolan Stuart.
Merlin’s teammate Lucas Norat took silver in the absolute next to him just after he won a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division, beating Yeppie Tomasian in the final. top competitor Francisco Lo won the middleweight division and the medium-heavyweight division was dominated by ATOS competitors, as Arthur Mariath won gold and Wallison Oliveira took silver. The team at ATOS had plenty of success elsewhere too, particularly at roosterweight where Osamah Almarwai stood on top of the podium. There were fewer men competing in the no gi brackets on the second day, but Dory Aoun still impressed by winning the absolute after taking a default gold at ultra-heavyweight.
Jaine Fragoso was the women’s no gi double champion, and she also won the lightweight division in the gi on the first day. The women’s gi absolute division was won by Melissa Stricker, shortly after she won a default gold medal at heavyweight. The roosterweight division also featured a big name, as Mariana Rolszt stood on top of the podium there. Mayara Melo also made an appearance at middleweight, but she had to settle for a silver medal behind Luciane Silva. There was quite a few fun matches at the IBJJF Orange County Winter Open 2025, with plenty for the fans to enjoy.
